Use This One Old Trick to Get Your Resume Taken Seriously

I had an instructor in college years ago say that a resume longer than two pages was unprofessional and would be ignored. Most 21 year old students didn’t have enough experiences to fill one page so that wasn’t really a problem for most of us.

There were other rules, too, like margin sizes, typeface styles, appropriate business grammar and so on. Much of that has changed with the new technologies, social networking and the way in which we apply for jobs. But one small fundamental has not. This critical element is so powerful, so essential that not tending to it can have a staggering impact on a job search. This one old trick, if used with rigidity and regularity when drafting a resume will certainly increase its odds of not getting tossed into the reject pile.

Ready for this tip, this must-do pearl of wisdom?

Use your spell checker.

Yes, that’s it. That is the weird old tip.

I read dozens of resumes each week and have for over fifteen years. Most seasoned recruiters will tell you that the typos in resumes are a primary reason the resume is not routed. Recruiters and hiring managers are easily off-put by sloppy resumes. A person who won’t take the time to do something as elementary as push a spell-check key may not be mindful of details on the job.

Your resume is you. It is your representative. It speaks for you. Every word should be scrutinized. Every piece of punctuation should be reviewed. After you’ve completed your draft, run spell-check a few times, pass the resume to others to review. Seek out their comments. You cannot edit or review a resume enough.

Sometimes the most minor thing can make the biggest difference in getting your resume to the next step.